Ajakutty
Ajakutty is a Second League motorball player who became Alita's staunchest ally during her motorball career. He was one of the members of her challenge team that took on Jashugan. Appearance A large man with a wide, broad chin and a dark mustache and beard, Ajakutty's face remains largely flesh and blood in comparison to other players, and he has a mask that can be raised and lowered. An illustration by Yukito Kishiro for the 2003 Ultra Jump calendar shows him as wearing light green armor and having a yellow mask."Calendar of GLO" Accessed 2011-04-15. In Gunnm: Martian Memory he wears dark green armor with a yellow mask. He was later shown wearing a hat, polo neck sweater, and light-coloured jacket when in a bar with Armblessed a decade later. Personality Ajakutty is highly confident of his abilities and enjoys the combat that is an integral part of motorball, preferring to go for the kill instead of the win. Despite his skill, he lacks the arrogance that characterizes Armblessed and has a strong sense of honour. He is not a vindictive person, as he reconciled with Alita and later even Armblessed. Relationships Alita .]] At first Ajakutty looked down on Alita for attempting to take his number 99 when she moved up to the Second League, seeing her as an upstart. He nonetheless did not go easy on her during their practice match. When he realized that she could have killed him during the second race of this match, his attitude towards her radically changed, as he recognized her superior abilities. He was openly deferential to her before the start of her Second League debut race, leading to his disciples' questioning his attitude. During the race, he watched out for her, catching her after she would have crashed after being hit by a piece of Peshkavus' body that he broke off and threw. He then helped her defeated a pair of brothers who had attacked her during the race, Gallant and Vickers. After being named to her challenge team to face Jashugan, he was the only player to confront her about her decision to quit motorball afterwards, and honestly told her that she was an outsider. Armblessed Ajakutty did not have a rivalry with Armblessed and had not previously fought him until Alita's Second League debut race. After seeing two of his disciples go down at Armblessed's hands, he recklessly took on the champion himself in an attempt to avenge them, but fell to Armblessed's Gushiken. In spite of this, the two found themselves sudden teammates when they were both named to Alita's challenge team. They survived Jashugan's onslaught and were later picked up together by a recovery crew. The relationship between the two seems to have evolved over the years, as a decade later they were both drinking side by side in a bar when the news of the Tenth Zenith of Things Tournament Finals was broadcast in the Scrapyard.Phase 87 - Various spectators around the Solar System on the eve of the Tenth ZOTT finals are shown. His three disciples As the master of three fellow Second League players, Bargerald, Skaramasakus, and Halberd, the relationship between them and Ajakutty was one of mutual respect and cooperation. He believed in them enough to suggest them as possible candidates for Alita's challenge team, although his disciples initially did not agree with Ajakutty's deferential attitude towards Alita until they got an idea of her abilities. During her Second League debut race, all four attempted to support each other. Although his disciples died in this race, Ajakutty did not appear to overly grieve for them, as he realized and had accepted that they were true motorballers, even if it had cost them their lives. Abilities Although ranked 23rd at the time of his practice match against Alita, this ranking was deceptive, as Ajakutty relishes the fight more than the win, having crashed over 200 players.Battle 15 - Thompson describes Ajakutty. His fighting style is what he calls the Asian Arts, a blend of at least three different martial arts from Asia. As his disciples, Bargerald, Skaramasakus, and Halberd each specialized in a particular discipline: Mue Katchuah, Yuan Yang Ti Kon Chun, and Tae Kwon Do, respectively. Ajakutty is seen mainly using techniques from Yuan Yang Ti Kon Chun. Most of his attacks are kicks and he is a master of fighting on his back or from a lower position than his opponent to deliver them, usually setting up his techniques by dropping into a controlled fall. *'Hammer Force Hurricane Kick': A kick set up by Ajakutty facing an opponent and dropping into a forward roll, targeting their shin with one foot. *'Hanging Moon in the Heavens Kick': Ajakutty gets in front of an opponent and falls forward while bringing up a foot to kick them in the chest or under the chin. *'Ti Kung Chuan': Translated as "Crawling Scissors" or "Ground Style", a series ground-based kick tecniques. *'Ti Kung Tui': Translated as "Shin Strike from the Ground", Ajakutty strikes his opponent with his shin while on the ground. History ''Battle Angel Alita'' .]] Alita encountered Ajakutty after she qualified for the Second League and refused to wear any number but 99. Because two players cannot wear the same number in each league and this happened to be Ajakutty's number, he refused to relinquish it without a fight, so the matter was settled in a best of three rounds practice match. Ajakutty won the first round, but lost the second, deciding to forfeit the third match and surrender the number when he recognized Alita's superior abilities. She earned his respect and Ajakutty became her closest ally on the motorball track. He called Alita “Sister” instead of by her name, and she in turn called him “Ajy.” In Alita's Second League debut race, Ajakutty watched out for Alita and supported her against the combined attacks of three other players who were manipulated into attacking her by Peshkavus. He caught her after a piece of Peshkavus' body that he had broken off hit her on the head, which would have caused her to crash. The two then combined to take out the pair of brothers, Gallant and Vickers. When Peskhavus spread oil on the track, Ajakutty fell onto his back and allowed Alita to ride on him, negating the oil slick. After they separated, Ajakutty took on the Second League champion Armblessed for the first time after witnessing the crushing defeat of Bargerald and Halberd at his hands. He was able to take one of Armblessed's legs by using Ti Kung Tui, but this set up Armblessed's Gushiken attack, and he subsequently tore Ajakutty into pieces. Following the race however, the two rivals found themselves sudden teammates when they were named to Alita's challenge team to take on Jashugan. Before the race, Ajakutty confronted Alita about her decision to quit motorball after, telling her that she was an outsider as she was unable to truly give herself to the game.Battle 21 - Alita recalls her conversation with Ajakutty before the challenge race starts. During the race itself, Ajakutty attempted to attack Jashugan with a kick, but the latter countered by blocking it and using the Sidewinder to entangle the leg. Ajakutty tried to strike back with a punch, which was also blocked and countered with the Sidewinder. Jashugan then used both arms to tear Ajakutty's body into pieces. Ajakutty however survived the race and was subsequently recovered from the track. ''Last Order'' In Last Order he was one of the many characters from Alita's past shown when Melchizedek, appearing as an afterimage of Arthur Farrell, reached out to her consciousness after her ego was shattered and her Imaginos Body dissolved following Super Nova's Seca attack.Phase 62 - Melchizedek calls out to Alita's fading consciousness. He is later shown with Armblessed in a bar as being among the spectators from Alita's past who will follow the Tenth Zenith of Things Tournament Finals between Alita's Space Angels and the Space Karate Forces. Other appearances Ajakutty appears in Gunnm: Martian Memory and is already wearing the number 88, as Gally starts out with number 99. He is the boss of the third motorball race. Ajakutty appears in Alita Battle Angel as a motorball player. He gets torn apart by Kinuba. Trivia *His likely namesake is the , an Indian double-bladed sword. References Category:Motorball players Category:Gunnm: Martian Memory characters Category:Males